Digital TV passes half-way mark

More than half of British viewers now have digital television, latest figures reveal. The broadcasting milestone will be welcomed by the Government as it aims to switch the population to digital between 2006 and 2010 so it can sell off the present analogue signal spectrum.

Statistics compiled by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (Barb) show that, by the start of this month, 50.4 per cent of viewers had access to Sky digital, Freeview or digital cable TV.

This is reflected in growing audiences for multi-channel programmes. Sky remains dominant, with Sky One claiming the biggest audience and Sky Sports 1 achieving a record 42 audiences in excess of a million so far this year, largely thanks to live football.

BBC Four, which is among channels that have been criticised for their limited reach, has also seen its audience grow by 145 per cent between September 2002 and the same month this year.

Terrestrial channels have been losing viewers as the number of multi-channel homes increases. This year, Channel 4 audiences slipped to their lowest level for more than a decade, while ITV1 felt the pinch on its Saturday night viewing figures.

Ministers have set a digital switch-over target of 2010, but broadcasters have warned that, without further government investment, this deadline may prove impossible, with a more likely date being 2014 at the earliest.

Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, has admitted the Government faces an uphill task after a survey showed 70 per cent would 'resent' the loss of the analogue signal. The study found millions do not want digital television because they find it too 'laborious and demanding' even to change channels.

Jowell said last September: 'We need to convince people that switchover is good for them. Dual transmission is unfair. Switching off the analogue signal is the only way we can bring digital terrestrial TV to everybody. The continuing use of analogue deprives 20-25 per cent of the population of digital TV coverage, and we simply cannot improve this coverage before we turn analogue off.'